


Take on the World

by BartsCat1407



Category: XCOM (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:28:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29762424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BartsCat1407/pseuds/BartsCat1407
Summary: Theo “Shadow” Steele always knew he was a bit of a risk-taker, but the Commander should realise that putting a tracker on an ADVENT Officer might help give them some extremely valuable intel. It also definitely had absolutely nothing to do with how much Theo loved their armour and how he just wanted to get closer to have a better look. He had compartmentalised all his erratic thoughts until after the mission ended and he was going to enjoy himself while he had the chance.
Relationships: Original Male Character/ADVENT Officer
Kudos: 1





	1. Getting-to-Know-You Photos

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic so no guarantee it's any good. Comments and feedback appreciated (and, if I'm going to be honest, wanted, because who knows how this will go.)
> 
> Thanks to my beta, without whom this would be even more of a disaster than it already is.
> 
> Chapters will hopefully be uploaded every Sunday. I have written the first 6 chapters already so I have a backlog in reserve. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

Theo “Shadow” Steele always knew he was a bit of a risk-taker, but the Commander should realise that putting a tracker on an ADVENT Officer might help give them some extremely valuable intel. It also definitely had absolutely nothing to do with how much Theo loved their armour and how he just wanted to get closer to have a better look. He had compartmentalised all his erratic thoughts until after the mission ended and he was going to enjoy himself while he had the chance. 

“Shadow, do not attempt to put that tracker on that officer,” came through on his comms. “You are meant to be incognito. Do _not_ compromise the mission.” 

“Chill, Commy, it’ll be fine. I’m good at sleight-of-hand. They’ll never know what hit them.” A scoff buzzed through, causing Theo to roll his eyes. “You really need to trust me. Since you’re so distracting, though, I’m just gonna turn off my comms for a bit. Shadow out.” 

Theo chuckled at the “Shadow, wai-” that came before he shut off his comms. Approaching the patrolling Officer, he calmed himself, noticing that the Officer had already seen him moving closer and was subtly tensing as if preparing for a fight. 

The red of the Officer’s armour seemed brighter than others’ that Theo had fought and everything seemed a little more ornate and sharper. They must be a higher ranking than the average soldier, he thought to himself. 

Calling out, “Hi there, Mr. Officer, sir. I’m such a massive fan of all that ADVENT stands for and I was really hoping I could take a picture with you so I can remember everything ADVENT does for me,” Theo hoped that praising the ADVENT regime would get him what he wanted. 

“No,” was the only response that came from the Officer as he kept walking. 

Theo was floored. Did he imagine that or did this Officer just respond to him in relatively unaccented English? He was equally surprised that he could identify them as male since he normally struggled to tell the difference when they were barking incoherently on the battlefield. 

Quickly regaining his composure and catching up to the patrolling soldier, Theo threw his arm around the Officer’s shoulder, briefly brushing past the plating on his back to plant the tracker. “Please, sir. Just let me take one picture.” 

He was very swiftly shrugged off as the Officer tightened his grip on his rifle. “Do not touch me again, civilian, otherwise you might have to take a picture of me from the inside of a prison cell for obstructing a patrolling officer.” 

Again, Theo was stunned. He had just heard this alien speak a complete sentence in perfect English. He had heard people mention that most ADVENT officers spoke English, but it was usually heavily-accented and quite stilted. Pretty much the complete opposite of what was just spoken to him. 

Theo must have not schooled his shock fast enough as the solider turned towards him, looking as if he was examining him. Quickly realising the extremely dangerous situation that he had got himself into, Theo took a step backwards, making sure to sound apologetic: “I-I’m so sorry, Officer. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Pretending to look at the nearby clock, he continued, “Oh, I need to get going. Thank you for protecting the streets, Officer. Maybe I’ll see you again.” He swiftly turned around and started heading away from the Officer, towards his meet-up point. After making it a good twenty steps, he breathed a small sigh of relief as it seemed like he had got away with it. 

“Wait!” was shouted from behind him. Turning around, he saw the soldier marching towards him, stopping almost directly in front of him. Theo’s heart rate shot up. Had his disguise been seen through? It wasn’t his best, but the sunglasses and hat at least disguised his eyes and distinctive blond hair. “I have a quick question for you. What has you in such a rush?” 

Was this a test, Theo thought to himself? The worry must have shown on his face, however, since the Officer clarified: “Don’t worry, unless you’re causing trouble, everything will be okay. It’s just one of the random spot-checks we’ve been giving out for the past month due to the terrorist concerns. I’m sure you’ve been asked before.” The Officer was smiling at him, in what was probably supposed to be a disarming way, but, in reality, made him look like he was the cat who got the cream. As it was the only visible part of his face, it really made the smile quite creepy. 

Realising that this was most definitely a test and remembering that someone had mentioned something about increased spot-checks from patrolling troopers, he replied in a calm tone without missing a beat: “Oh, of course. I’m just out picking up a present for my flat-mate. It’s his birthday today and I didn’t get him a present, so I need to get something and be back before he realises I’m gone.” It technically wasn’t a complete lie; he was picking up some secret information and goods from an informant, taking it back to the people he shared the Avenger with. His reply, however, seemed to only make the Officer’s smile even more disturbing. 

It must have been the right answer, though, as the soldier eventually took a step back. “Okay. That all seems to be fine. Thank you and have a good day.” He turned around and headed in the opposite direction, carrying on with his patrol. Once he was out of earshot, Theo huffed out a huge sigh of relief. Thank god he hadn’t been asked for any ID. He always carried a fake one just in case, but it would never hold up under a lot of scrutiny. Super-stressful infiltration missions he could handle, but anything that involved diplomacy and talking was really not his strong suit. Actually looking at the time, he realised he would probably be late if he didn’t start making his way towards the meet-up point. 

Turning his comm back on as he carried on walking, he said, “Tracker has been placed, heading to rendezvous point now.” He hoped the Commander wouldn’t be too angry with him for taking his own initiative. 

“Shadow, that was way too reckless. You nearly compromised the entirety of this mission for some intel that may or not be helpful. Do not do that again,” the Commander reprimanded. “Also do _not_ turn off your comms while alone. We noticed that when you first started to leave the tracked officer, they started making their way towards you again. Do you think you gave anything away?” 

Knowing he could get away with a little bit of cheek, he replied, “Don’t worry about it, Commy, I know what I’m doing. He just asked me a few questions about what I was doing. I must have passed whatever test he set as he instantly left afterwards in the opposite direction. You can keep an eye on the tracker in case he comes after me if it makes you feel better. Like I said, it seems like I passed his test so it should all be okay.” 

“Shadow, how many times do I have to tell you not to call me Commy? I have said many times if you don’t want to call me Commander during missions, at least call me Olivia or some derivation thereof. But, okay, we’ll keep an eye on his position in case he starts heading towards you.” 

Chuckling to himself, Theo huffed, “No can do, Commy, you’re going to have to keep repeating it. I just can’t help but forget. Anyway, I’m coming up to the rendezvous point, so going to go comms-quiet for a bit. Let me know if I need to hightail it out of there.” 

A disappointed, “Of course, you’re not going to stop,” mutter came through the comms. Theo almost felt bad but, in the end, it was quite funny, and the Commander never sounded truly annoyed. She continued, “Affirmative. Keep an ear out for any changes on the ground.” 

Switching his attention back to his actual mission, Theo lent back on a nearby lamppost, waiting for the meeting to begin. Congregating out in the open might be more suspicious if someone heard what they were saying, but it was much more dubious to be meeting in some obscure back alley. Fortunately, the area was relatively empty with only a couple of people passing by here and there, with no-one paying any attention. It didn’t take too long before he was approached by a tall man, also wearing sunglasses, carrying a nondescript backpack. 

“Hey, Hayd, how’s it hanging?” 

The eyeroll before Hayden responded was almost audible. “Come on, Shadow, I have a codename too, at least use it. Also, how did you know I wasn’t some ADVENT spy? You shouldn’t use my real name until you can check I’m actually me.” 

Theo quite liked ‘Herald’ as a codename but he would never usually call him that to his face and Hayden knew that. Theo had spent enough time with Hayden to know that the latter would immediately hone in on him if he started acting unlike his usual cheeky persona and he wasn’t sure how well he would be able to hold up under Hayden’s typical ‘tell-me your problems’ expression. “Hayden, we have known each other since we were both, like, 7; if I couldn’t tell it was you then I’d be a disappointment as a friend. But, more importantly, have you been keeping safe? Staying under the radar? How is ev-?” 

“Theo!” Hayden interrupted. “Chill out! I’m fine, we literally talked earlier this week. I just needed to meet up with you to give you some data caches for the scientists to decrypt. You’re worrying too much again. I like how much you care about me, sweetie, but you’re not really my type. Everyone is fine, we’ve heard nothing, so we’re probably completely safe for now: like, really, they don’t know we’ve been helping you out.” 

Calming down a bit, Theo smiled. Hayden always knew what to say when he started stressing. “Sorry. I just don’t want you getting caught; I can’t lose you, too.” The atmosphere got much more sombre before Theo held up his hand to stop Hayden speaking. “But, anyway,” he said, his tone lifting significantly, “what else do you have for me in the bag? Any fun goodies?” 

Hayden gave him a long look. He clearly knew exactly what Theo was doing to the conversation, but Theo couldn’t really care. He didn’t want to talk about it. Definitely not now, probably not ever. He knew it wasn’t particularly healthy, but neither was fighting against an alien race intent on turning all humans into juice to improve their ruler’s health. 

Fortunately, Hayden let it slide for the moment by slipping off the backpack and handing it over. “So, we have the data caches, plus a couple of grenades and medkits. There’s also a chunk of salvaged electronics we pulled from a couple of decommissioned MECs that ADVENT hadn’t cleared up. Obviously, we couldn’t fit it all in the backpack, but we got the most important parts in there. It’s quite full, so be careful not to drop it. Also, th-” 

“Shadow, we have word that an ADVENT patrol is on its way to your position,” fizzled through on his comm. “You probably have a couple of minutes maximum before their arrival. It doesn’t seem to be related to the officer from earlier as they’re still patrolling the same area as before.” 

“Shit,” Theo whispered. “Sorry, Hayd, but I’ve just got word that there’s an ADVENT patrol on its way. They’ll be here in a couple of minutes. We’re gonna have to cut it a bit short.” 

Hayden tilted his head in confusion. “But there aren’t any normal patrols that come through this direction. I specifically picked here because they only patrol at night; the first one comes through in like 6 hours. What’s happening?” 

Understanding flashed across Theo’s face. “They knew we were going to be here – somehow, they heard about our meeting. Enough people know about it; there isn’t really too much we can do to find out who the mole was unless we plan properly. But that doesn’t matter, we’ve really got to get out of here. It was really nice to see you; we’ll catch up properly next time. Preferably, when I’m not constantly on the run.” 

Suddenly, from around the corner at the end of the street, came two Stun Lancers and an officer running towards them. Theo was immediately quite happy with his expansive knowledge of the officers’ armour, as he could tell just from a glance that it was a different officer to the previous one. 

One of them shouted something that sounded like, “Wait! Stop there!”. Theo wasn’t 100% sure, due to the distance and the garbled heavy accent; the complete opposite of the nicer voice the Officer had earlier that day. 

Theo zipped up the backpack before they both turned away, sprinting from the advancing troops, with Theo heading towards the nearby alley. “Herald, get out of here! We’ll talk later. Just stay safe,” Theo exclaimed. Turning into the alley, he noticed a small crevice behind a nearby bin, which he hurriedly jumped into. Concealing his presence, he waited, hoping that any of the troops that tried to follow him would run straight past. Fortunately, the Stun Lancer and Officer on his tail ran directly past his hiding spot and out of the alley into the road. They must have seen something suspicious as they then darted off. Theo thanked his lucky stars that only one of them was chasing after Hayden. He knew Hayden was a fast runner, but Theo wasn’t sure how good he was at outmanoeuvring a chasing Stun Lancer. Hayden knew the streets, though, so would have an easier time escaping. 

Now that the current threat had passed, but knowing that more troops would be most definitely on their way, Theo had to work out how to escape the city and get back to the Avenger. Suddenly remembering that he hadn’t had any orders or suggestions in his ears since the last warning, he snarked, “Umm, quick question. What was that about two minutes? That was definitely like 40 seconds?” He followed up with, “Also, what’s the best way for me to get out of the city to the pick-up point?” 

Hearing no response, Theo briskly repeated himself. Again, no reply. He frowned in confusion. There must have been a communications jammer set up since the warning about the incoming patrol. He peered out into the alleyway, looking for any threats. Fortunately, he couldn’t see anybody, so he started heading to the end of the alley, hugging the wall of the building. He suddenly heard the sound of a magnetic rifle powering up behind him, causing him to tense and freeze up. Someone had snuck up on him! How did he not notice? He was meant to be a professional in stealth! His thoughts clicked into place. This person must’ve had something to do with his communications being blocked, as he wouldn’t be jammed if they had run past him like the others had. 

A perfectly clear English voice spoke to him, abruptly jolting him out of his spiralling thoughts. “Well, if it isn’t the famous Shadow! I’m such a massive fan, can I take a picture with you?”


	2. Peers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oritos Oneim or, as he referred to himself when thinking, Orion, was not in a particularly good mood when a suspicious young man in sunglasses and a hat came up to him while he was on his weekly patrol. 

Oritos Oneim or, as he referred to himself when thinking, Orion, was not in a particularly good mood when a suspicious young man in sunglasses and a hat came up to him while he was on his weekly patrol. 

It was quite early on into Orion’s training and conditioning programme that he realised he was different from the other training officers. He actually enjoyed the training and strove harder to be the best he could be, not because he was forced to but because he enjoyed it. He heard about the Skirmishers, a resistance faction of soldiers who had defected due to their malfunctioning chips. Upon finding out they were being hunted down and reclaimed with replacement chips, Oritos promptly realised his free thought was probably due to a broken chip. He also knew that he definitely did not want to give up this freedom, so clearly had to remain hidden if he wanted to continue in ADVENT. He knew he had the option to defect like the others did, but he didn’t particularly feel the need to, since he enjoyed what he was doing. He also did feel some loyalty towards his creators, even if the plan was for him to be brainwashed. 

Even after recently becoming an ADVENT General, he liked patrolling which gave him some time to get away from the annoying attitude of his fellow commanders and the restricting orders of his seniors. However, he could already tell from the way this random man was approaching him that this patrol would not be uneventful. 

Given that he liked being able to do something other than just direct the forces below him in the command chain, he knew that he was asking for this annoyance to pop up by getting irritated earlier that morning by one of his superiors. They had told him to lead a research-escort mission to the nearby lost-infested city to go collect some supplies. He knew he was chosen out of spite. They had never liked how quickly he rose to the rank of general and were always looking for ways to belittle and ridicule him, and receiving such an inane mission definitely rankled him. 

Hoping that the suspicious man would just walk straight past and not talk to him, Orion continued to walk on his patrol line, slightly increasing his grip on his rifle in case the man was about to cause trouble. His optimistic hope was soon dashed. 

“Hi there, Mr. Officer, sir. I’m such a massive fan of all that ADVENT stands for and I was really hoping I could take a picture with you so I can remember everything ADVENT does for me,” the man said, in a saccharine voice that was just a little too forced to not be faked. 

Rolling his eyes beneath his helmet, Orion immediately shut the man down with a solid “no”. He thought it was a little bit of a suspicious question: why would someone want to take a picture with him? The man must be an out-of-towner, he thought to himself. He brushed off his suspicious thoughts as simply paranoia, until the man stuttered for a second upon hearing him speak in clear English, confirming Orion’s speculations. 

Suddenly, the man’s arm was thrown around Orion’s neck at the same time as the speaker in his armour gave out a low-pitched whirr which only he could hear. “Please, sir. Just let me take one picture,” the youngster persisted. 

What did he just do, Orion questioned? Swiftly thinking through his armour’s functions, he remembered that the low-pitched whirring noise was produced when some unknown electronic transfer device, like a bug or tracker, was placed on it. Only the highest-ranking soldiers had that benefit attached to their armour, so this function was not a well-advertised fact. This set off hundreds of warning bells in his head. Why would this man place something like that on his armour? 

He rapidly shrugged the man off, tightening his grip on his rifle. “Do not touch me. Otherwise, you might have to take a picture of me from the inside of a prison cell for obstructing a patrolling Officer,” he threatened, narrowing his eyes at the man standing in shock in front of him, his mouth agape. 

Underneath his helmet, he narrowed his eyes, examining the man in front of him. Orion thought he might recognise him but, with the hat and sunglasses, he wasn’t sure; he could just be imagining it. He knew that asking him to remove them might cause the man to turn tail or start a commotion, so he decided to leave it for the moment to see if any more information would be revealed. 

The man must have realised he was in some sort of danger as he stepped away. “I-I’m so sorry, Officer. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” he apologised. After a brief glance at a nearby clock, he said, “Oh, no, I need to get going. Thank you for protecting the streets, Officer. Maybe I will see you again,” and turned on his heel, hurrying away. 

Orion was so stunned by the man’s quick exit that it took him a couple of seconds to respond. It was like the youngster was trying to be as suspicious as possible, he contemplated. 

“Wait!” he called. As the man turned to face him, Orion could see the tension throughout his body. Wondering if he could get the civilian to slip up further or reveal some information, he said, “I just have a quick question for you. What has you in such a rush?” The man noticeably paled at the question. It was like he had no skills at all in subtlety. Orion couldn’t help but smile; this shady man was really making his day into a bit of a rollercoaster. 

“Don’t worry: unless you’re causing trouble, everything will be okay. It’s just one of the random spot-checks we’ve been giving out for the past month due to the terrorist concerns. I’m sure you’ve been asked before,” he lied, pretending to try and alleviate the man’s fears. Whoever he worked for was clearly stupid, deciding to send him here when he obviously wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about how the city worked. They had been performing spot-checks on random civilians by checking their belongings for anything questionable, not asking what they were doing with their days. Unfortunately, the stranger didn’t seem to have anything on him and asking him to turn out his pockets would most likely cause him to panic and run away so Orion couldn’t use that against him. 

“Oh, of course. I’m just out picking up a present for my flat-mate. It’s his birthday today and I didn’t get him a present, so I need to get something and get back before he realises I’m gone,” the man calmly replied, causing Orion’s smile to grow even more, despite his attempts to prevent it. Since he was definitely an out-of-towner, clearly everything in that sentence was a complete lie. 

Orion decided that the best plan of action was to let the man escape, allowing him to think he got away with it, while following him to see where he would lead them, whether it be to a base or to a meeting. Since he was heading further into the city when he tried to get away, Orion thought it was fairly safe to assume that he hadn’t completed his objective. Either way, they could find plenty of information. Therefore, he ignored the normal protocols and ‘forgot’ to ask for the man’s ID. 

“Okay. That all seems to be fine. Thank you and have a good day.” Orion turned around and headed in the opposite direction, maintaining the pretence of continuing with his patrol, until he was out of sight where he hastily contacted the remaining members in his patrol squad. Everyone was technically meant to patrol in groups of more than one, for safety, but Orion liked the solitude so he walked a few minutes or so ahead of the other members. Thus, even if they were separated, it was fairly easy to reach the others in case of an emergency. 

When they arrived around thirty seconds later, he asked them to remove the tracker from his back and attach it to one of them, to throw whoever wanted to track him off the scent. This also allowed him to follow the youngster without tipping them off. Ordering the remainder of his patrol group to continue monitoring and to report to him if anything went wrong, he set off in the direction that the young man had gone.

This was one of his favourite things to do. Like his namesake, Orion always enjoyed following and ‘hunting’ his prey. One of his favourite techniques was one he learnt after watching security footage of an XCOM squad attack on an ADVENT supply convoy. One of the soldiers could almost completely conceal his presence if he wanted to, sneaking around and causing problems while the other members distracted the defensive force. Further research revealed that the man’s codename was Shadow and he had learned to control his breathing and presence to hide his existence on the battlefield. Orion was surprised the man wasn’t a Reaper with his advanced stealth skills, but he was thankful as Reapers were notorious for not being caught on camera and for wearing masks, concealing their identity, which would have made it infinitely harder for Orion to learn.

It was still definitely a struggle for Orion to learn as he mostly had no idea how to begin. However, fortunately for him, Shadow had been caught quite close-up on a couple of different hidden security cameras, giving Orion quite a few different perspectives on which to base his learning off. Eventually, he managed to get his concealment to a level where, if no-one knew he was there and no-one was specifically on the lookout for him, his presence would not be noticed and he could remain relatively hidden, even with his armour on. Even after reaching an acceptable level, he continued to watch any new footage caught of Shadow, absorbing all of his techniques. He would never say it out loud, for fear of being caught saying something he definitely should not even be thinking, but Orion was often in awe of how well Shadow could hide his presence. He would even almost say he aspired to have the skill to walk directly past someone without them noticing him even if they knew he was there. 

Slowing his breathing to start concealing his presence, Orion swiftly started following the man. Fortunately, the guy clearly wasn’t in too much of a rush as he was still in sight, which gave Orion ample time to catch up with him. Eventually, the man stopped walking and leaned casually against a lamppost. This was clearly the location of the man’s meeting, so Orion ducked into a nearby alley to see if he could eavesdrop. Orion was impressed: the area was selected well as it wasn’t on any day-time patrol routes and being out in the open would make anyone coming towards him look like a friend spotting a mate outside. Due to the unknowns of the situation, he called in some reinforcements from a close-by patrol. 

Just as he finished confirming the approaching squad, the man was approached by a taller man (well, everyone seemed to be a little taller than the tracker-placer, who was just below average height) and the two started conversing. They clearly had some experience at covert operations since they were speaking loud enough to not count as whispering, which would attract attention, but too quiet for passers-by to hear distinct words. Orion was able to catch a few snippets of the conversation but nothing useful enough to use. 

What did interest him was the dark, clearly full backpack that was exchanged between the two. The man who had placed the tracker was impressed with the transaction; this was obvious due to the growing smirk appearing on his face. 

Again, Orion was perplexed. Where did he recognise this man from? He knew he seemed familiar, but he really could not specifically place him. Was he on a wanted poster that Orion had seen a lot? Was he an escaped prisoner he had dealt with before? Maybe he was someone he had interrogated and got information from previously who, due to the memory wipe, had no memory of Orion when they crossed paths again. He was truly stumped. 

Moving his unhelpful thoughts on, Orion was excited to get his hands on whatever was in that bag. Clearly, it was something useful; maybe some intel or weapons? Or maybe it was a folder of stolen documents? Whatever it was, it was clearly important and he hoped that stopping the transfer alongside capturing both men would hamper whatever plan the resistance had. 

Interrupting Orion’s thoughts, the man started looking around for something, clearly concerned. Putting his finger to his ear, obviously speaking to someone through a comms device, he turned towards his friend with a distressed expression. Someone must have told him about the approaching squad and Orion was unsure how they could have found out. There plainly was some sort of informant in the city which ADVENT would have to sniff out. They must have had some out-of-date information, though, as the two men weren’t immediately running away even though the advancing patrol was less than half a minute away. 

Orion was suddenly reminded of the latest gadget that the ADVENT science team had created to combat resistance forces. A device that, when activated, would put up a field in a 200m radius that would block 99% of other communication devices that weren’t on the ADVENT network. Knowing that they were definitely within the radius and, if they tried to escape, he could easily follow them, he hurriedly activated it, hoping that they weren’t using too-sophisticated comms. This would at least cause some confusion when they tried to escape, making their capture easier. 

Hearing an ADVENT soldier’s shouting from down the main street, he switched his focus back onto the men, eyes vigilant for any movement. The shorter man quickly zipped up the backpack and started sprinting away from the approaching soldiers, towards where Orion had concealed his presence in the alleyway. Orion briefly whispered reminder orders to split off and to capture, not kill, the retreating men before he hid behind an outcrop in the wall. He ensured that he was still concealing his presence so, when the man ran straight past him, Orion could ambush and restrain him. If he decided to try to hide, there were only a couple of small but relatively noticeable spaces so he would easily be spotted. 

After turning into the alley, eyes thankfully brushing directly over where Orion was stood, the man zeroed in on a spot behind a bin and quickly ducked in. The man took a recognisable deep breath and, then, like flipping a switch, it was like Orion’s eyes didn’t want to acknowledge the man at all. He knew that if he hadn’t recognised the deep breath or kept his eyes focussed on the youngster the whole time, he would not have any idea where he had disappeared to. 

Everything that had stumped Orion throughout the day about the man unravelled at the same time. He suddenly knew why he had recognised that smirk. He had seen it so many times while watching the same few videos over and over again. He also understood where he recognised that breathing pattern: he was breathing the exact same way to remain concealed himself. Orion froze in complete shock. Here, directly in front of him, in that exact moment, was Shadow, a high-ranking XCOM operative. The man he had studied video footage of for hours upon hours to learn his presence-reducing tricks. There were a few other XCOM operatives that were caught on camera disguising their presence, but none had Shadow’s superior skill level. Remembering the ineptitude that he had shown when dealing with Orion’s questions, Orion was admittedly a little disappointed. Then again, most people couldn’t be amazing at everything and subterfuge was undoubtedly not one of Shadow’s skills. This didn’t answer the question of why Shadow was chosen to go on this mission in the first place, but Orion could always uncover that during the interrogation. 

The sudden apparition of two ADVENT soldiers rushing past tore Orion roughly from his thoughts. He knew he should stop them and direct them to Shadow’s location across from him, but he couldn’t. He wanted a bit more time to watch and observe. There was a marked difference between watching someone conceal themselves in-person and trying to observe through a security camera. Orion could feel the way his eyes just wanted to slide right over Shadow, despite knowing that he had to keep his eyes fixed on him otherwise he would definitely lose track if he started to move. As long as no-one found them, Orion wouldn’t get in trouble and he would be able to watch him in action. 

He was honestly extremely disappointed that he would have to arrest Shadow. He always enjoyed whenever footage was added to his file, but the man’s high rank would definitely afford him a lot of information that ADVENT could use to further improve their success and, since his patrol knew all about his hunt, if he didn’t turn anyone in then someone would get very suspicious. Especially with the ease in which Shadow disappeared, it would quickly make it very obvious who he was and, even though Orion could use the excuse that he had lost him since he was so stealthy, people would use it to highlight his failings and try to get his rank removed – which he was not having. The amount of extra clearance he got was insane, giving him access to so many more useful and important files. He was barely through a mere 15% of the information he wanted to examine and study, so he definitely could not let them take away his access. 

The area was near-silent. He knew he was definitely stalling the capture but he was waiting to see what clever stealth tactics Shadow would try to pull next. If he was being truly honest with himself, he was waiting for a slightly more dramatic moment; catching Shadow out when he wasn’t tucked behind a bin. A small part of him was also hoping that Shadow would notice his own technique and be impressed, but he wasn’t especially holding out too much hope on that. All XCOM hated anything ADVENT and he knew that the only emotions that would be directed towards him would be hate and suspicion – not that they weren’t particularly deserved. 

After a minute or so, Orion heard Shadow whispering into his comm, complaining about the lack of warning. He breathed out a sigh of relief. The communication jammer was definitely working, then, as Shadow would’ve been warned if they could still contact him. After hearing him ask about extraction, he knew it was time to make his move. 

He watched Shadow briefly scan the area, again thankfully missing his presence, before skirting alongside the edge of the building as he made his way to the end of the alley, away from his hiding spot. 

Knowing this was the perfect moment for a little bit of dramatics, Orion stepped out from his hiding place, dropping his concealment, bringing up his magnetic rifle and allowing it to make the distinctive charging-up noise. 

Noticing Shadow’s very obvious jump and tensing-up, Orion was unable to even attempt to keep the mirth out of his voice. “Well, if it isn’t the famous Shadow! I’m such a massive fan, can I take a picture with you?” He drawled, leaving his gun trained on him. He obviously very much did not want to shoot him, but he needed to at least keep up the pretence. 

Speedily spinning around, Shadow’s mouth was wide open for a couple of seconds before it started opening and closing repeatedly, trying desperately to formulate some form of response. Eventually, he finally stuttered out a “Y-y-y-you!”. He must have realised that Orion was an ADVENT officer and he should be a lot more guarded since his expression grew stonier and he moved into a more combat-ready position. 

Orion noticed that Shadow’s hand was also subtly moving behind his back, perhaps going for a weapon of some kind. “Nope! Hands where I can see them. But yes, it is me. Now, this can go one of two ways. The easy way, where you answer my questions now so, when I handle your interrogation after I’ve brought you in, it’s a lot less stressful and painful for you. Or you can resist and I will have to restrain you. Then there will be more people in your interrogation as you painfully reveal all your secrets to everyone, letting all your friends know that it was _you_ who divulged the inner workings of XCOM to ADVENT. So, what will it be? Me or pain?” 

He always enjoyed giving these kinds of threats out. They didn’t need to know that he would never go with the second option. It would look like he was weak if he couldn’t extract the information himself and he would never allow anyone else in on his interrogations to discover his techniques. He also wasn’t 100% sure he would be able to incapacitate Shadow if push came to shove. The one weakness of going by himself was that one flashbang or smoke grenade would render him completely helpless and he knew that Shadow was a fan of both types of grenade. He couldn’t remove anything from him without getting too close or getting Shadow to do it himself, which he wasn’t even considering an option. 

“Pfft. Sure. I believe you,” Shadow said, rolling his eyes. “So, the gist of your good deal is that I go with you nicely, tell you everything you want to know, betray all my friends, etcetera, etcetera. Sure, that sounds really fun. But then you would do what to me? Keep me locked up for the rest of my life? Use me as bait for my friends? Ooh, maybe even use my DNA for some research? Yeah, I’m sure that sounds great, thanks for your offer. How about, instead, you just let me go, for free, and we don’t have any hassle, yeah? I don’t cause any problems and you don’t get hurt.” Nonetheless, Shadow started to raise his arms above his head in some form of compliance. He clearly didn’t want to be shot. Orion assumed he was just waiting for an opportune moment to escape. 

“I really don’t think you’re in any position to be making demands, since one false move and you might be missing a limb. Really, the best thing you can do is comply and I might be able to help you out a bit. Now, what was your mission today and who were you meeting?” He didn’t think that Shadow would tell the truth but maybe he would be proved wrong and Orion wouldn’t have to resort to using other methods. 

“Why should I tell you anything when you either won’t believe me or you’ll use it against me? It’s like you don’t know rule one,” Shadow responded. Putting on a gruffer voice, he continued, “‘You do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be used as evidence against you’ kind of thing. Ring any bells?” Continuing on with his snark: “Also, I really don’t understand why you think I’ll actually tell you anything. Just ‘cause you can ask me in a suave, textbook-sounding, understandable voice doesn’t mean I’m more likely to tell you anything. You’re still ADVENT and I know you know I’m quite high ranking in the XCOM chain. I know you’re also pretty high up but, even so, you wouldn’t risk damaging such useful intel.” 

Orion continued to be impressed with Shadow: he was very quick-thinking and also clearly quite intelligent. Feeling unrecognisably weird, he brushed off the compliment that Shadow had given him during his spiel. It was definitely accidental but it didn’t make him feel any less odd. He’d come back to it when he had some time to think about it in more detail. Giving him a small smirk, he replied, “You don’t need to be uninjured for us to gather info from you so, unfortunately, that defence is invalid.” Again, this wasn’t entirely true, as taking him in injured would make him look less skilled. But, mainly, if he could bring him in without too much fuss and with all the necessary information extracted, he could shove the fact he had gained all that intel in the faces of those stupid superiors who were doubting him. “How about a different question: where did you learn to conceal your presence and how did you get so good at it?” 

Shadow was obviously surprised at the question as it took him a couple of seconds to respond. “What do you mean ‘learn’? I taught myself from scratch. It’s not a skill that people can teach, unless you’re a Reaper,” he added absentmindedly. Then, as if remembering that he shouldn’t be telling him anything, Shadow sent Orion a strong glare. “That’s not important. How do you know about conceal? I haven’t seen any ADVENT, bar the Chosen, being able to conceal their presence and it’s not like I…” he slowly trailed off into low, indecipherable muttering, which Orion was about to put an end to before he felt an intense focus fall upon him from behind Shadow’s sunglasses. Feeling a little bit like a specimen under a microscope, he was quickly bombarded by Shadow’s own questions. “Wait! Is that how you snuck up on me? How did you learn conceal? Does ADVENT have someone teaching their soldiers to conceal their presence, ‘cause, really, if they do, they really suck at it? Also, how do you conceal yourself with your armour; like, I really struggle to mask it when I’m wearing thicker armour?” 

“Stop talking,” Orion interjected. Seriously, Shadow had no training in how to deal with an interrogation. He was literally a leaky sieve of information. If Orion was any other ADVENT soldier, Shadow would’ve been physically shut up by now and they definitely would have punished him for asking questions. At this point, it was obvious that he wouldn’t be able to get any clear answers from Shadow without him either clamming up and not talking about anything relevant or him questioning back, so he knew it was time to use something that he liked to keep hidden. 

During his original officer training, upon running some private tests on himself to delve a little bit deeper into why he was different and what the differences caused, he had figured out that he had an abnormally high aptitude for psionics, even without the genetic modification that the ADVENT Priests did. This was obviously not normal so, to remain hidden as he desired, he had to keep his training on the down-low. After following a training schedule made for the Priests, he discovered that, without the use of any form of psionic booster, he could, with relative ease (depending on their defensive skills), read and manipulate people’s memories alongside basic psionic manipulation. This proved very helpful when someone saw him doing something he shouldn’t have as he swiftly wiped their memory of him and planted a different one instead. With something boosting his powers, he was definitely stronger than most of even the Elite Priests. Fortunately, his psionic defence was also incredibly high, allowing his powers to remain undetected when in close proximity to other strong users; even the Chosen Warlock hadn’t noticed when they were in the same room at one point. It was either that or he just didn’t care. 

Orion subtly performed a quick scan of the surrounding area for anyone watching but, fortunately, everyone had run away during the original confrontation. With the element of surprise on his side, he threw out a powerful burst to lock Shadow’s mind in place so he wouldn’t start moving upon his preparation. After lowering his rifle, he placed one of his hands upon Shadow’s head, granting him entry to his mind. He only had around 10 minutes before it would wear off and he would have to reapply everything, but overusing his abilities often gave him quite a heavy amount of psionic overload, which he really didn’t want, so he couldn't afford to take his time. 

Orion’s mindreading wasn’t really reading: it was more like mind suggestion, with him coaxing out the memories from the depths of someone’s brain by asking questions or even giving them suggestions of what to think about. He didn’t even see the true memory; it was more like a hint or maybe a brief picture of it. It still gave him a lot to work with, though, and he knew that if he had a booster, he would definitely be able to do more. Planting memories was a lot easier than finding memories, as planting the memory only involved his skill – he could just push the memory in and lock it in place. Contrastingly, retrieving a memory could be very difficult depending on the resistance that the mind had. Even the memory removal was more like heavy memory suppression: putting an extreme lock on the memory and pushing it far back into the mind never to be seen, allowing a newly-created memory to replace it. 

Just before entering Shadow’s mind, Orion felt a loud voice boom through his skull. **“** **Oritos** **Oneim.** **”**

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from "Take on the World" by You Me at Six, which is an absolute banger.


End file.
